Students, bus driver hospitalized in crash

A tractor trailer and school bus collided in Jones County, sending two to the hospital.

Christopher Thomas - Christopher.Thomas@JDNews.com

Updated at 5:03 p.m.

A tractor trailer and school bus collided in Jones County, sending two to the hospital.

According to information from North Carolina Highway Patrol, at approximately 6:03 a.m. Wednesday, a Duplin County school bus heading east on N.C. 41 within a mile of the Jones-Duplin county line, driven by county school bus driver Susan Jones Chestnut, collided with a tractor trailer driven by Kevin Nicholson, which was also heading east on the highway, after the bus attempted to turn left.

Both vehicles ran off the road and came to rest in a ditch.

According to the report, two East Duplin High School students were on the bus at the time of the wreck.

Chestnut and one of the students were taken to Vidant Health in Duplin County, according to the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, but had minor injuries. Their statuses are not known as of late Wednesday.

Along with highway patrol and the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, Hargett’s Crossroad and Potters Hill fire departments responded to the scene, as well as Duplin and Jones counties EMS units. According to Highway Patrol, by 9 a.m., both lanes on the highway were open and the scene was cleared by Highway Patrol.

Chestnut was cited with a safe movement violation, but is still employed by Duplin County Schools.

According to Duplin County Schools spokesperson, Dawn Craft, the superintendent’s office and the department of transportation are looking into the matter, but Chestnut will remain as a bus driver. She has had a good driving record in her 18 years as a school driver in the county, Craft said.

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An early morning wreck in Jones County sent a Duplin County Schools student and a bus driver to the hospital.

According to a spokesperson for the Jones County Sheriff's Office, at approximately 5:50 a.m. this morning, a Duplin County school bus and a tractor trailer stacked with lumber collided on N.C. 41 west about one mile inside the Duplin-Jones counties line. The spokesperson said injuries were minor.

Both lanes of the highway were shut down.

According to a release from Duplin County Schools, the bus had just started its route to East Duplin High School at the time of the wreck.

Along with the Jones County Sheriff's Office, Highway Patrol, Potters Hill and Hargett's Crossroads Fire Departments, as well as Duplin and Jones Counties EMS, responded to the wreck.

According to Duplin County Schools, one student and the bus driver were taken to Vidant Duplin Hospital and the other student was not injured.